The projected cost of fixing up Fountain Square has nearly doubled since the City Council first set aside money for the project last summer.
Damaged fountain last June when the repair work was proposed.
Aldermen will be asked Monday to award a $384,925 contract to Pinel Andrews Contracting Corp. of Evanston for the repair work. Adding a 10 percent contingency for possible cost overruns will raise the total budget to $432,835, nearly double the $224,000 allocated last June.
In a memo sent to aldermen, Facilities Management Superintendent David Cook says the city received no responses to its first two requests for design-build bids on the project last summer and fall.
The city then hired an engineering firm to design the project and prepare bid documents. Those drew two bids last month. But Cook says the low bidder, Schaefges Brothers, Inc. of Wheeling, failed to complete the city’s paperwork designed to assure that a portion of city work goes to businesses owned by minorities, women and Evanston residents.
That left Pinel Andrews, which said the job would cost 12 percent more than Schaefges did, as the only qualified bidder.
The repair project is expected to be funded with money from the Downtown and Washington National tax increment financing districts.
The work will include repairing the pool masonry and pool liners, replacing the existing electrical panel, damaged piping, pumps and fountain controls, installing new brick pavers, a new drinking fountain and a new light fixture to illuminate the flag.
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